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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 0008.PDF
HEADLINES Dutch defer helicopter decision T HE NETHERLANDS Government has delayed its choice of a battlefield helicopter until the middle of this month in order to "clarify" the offset deals offered by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) for its AH-64 Apache, and Eurocopter for die Tiger. At stake is an order for 32 heli copters worth up to NGL1.5 bil lion (S875 million) for the Netherlands army. The official reason for die delay is "...the absence of sufficient information on die contents of the financial compensations proposed by the two manufacturers". Eurocopter has proposed a 100% offset package spread around 80 Dutch companies, while MDC has reportedly offered to place up to NGL100 million-worth of busi ness with Fokker. The latter stands to gain either way, since its majority owner, Deutsche Aerospace, has a 30% stake in Eurocopter. The Netherlands prime minis ter, Wim Kok, insisted after the announcement of the delay that the competition was "still totally open". His defence minister, Joris Voorhoeve, however, has repeated his ministry's prefer ence for the Apache, and not only because the helicopter "...satisfies all of our operational requirements". He adds that the Tiger is not available until 1999, while the Apache is already in service, and would not, therefore, expose the Netherlands to the risk of intro ducing a brand-new machine. "We want a contract without risk," he says. The Government wants clarifi cation on diree points: how the offers compare in terms of short- and long-term benefits, qualita tively and quantitively; how they translate in terms of employment benefits; and what the offers mean for Dutch industry in the interna tional context. The Agusta A. 129 Mangusta, Atlas Aviation Rooivalk and the Bell AH-1W have also been offered for the contract. • Hughes and Raytheon are picked to develop AIM-9X RAMON LOPEZ/WASHINGTON DC THE US NAVY has picked Raytheon and Hughes to begin development of the next- generation Sidewinder short- range air-to-air missile. The USN awarded Raytheon S25 million and Hughes $22 mil lion to begin 18-month demon stration/validation work on the AIM-9X programme. The con tract includes ground and captive flight-testing of advanced, wide- angle, focal-plane-array seekers. Teamed with Hughes are British Aerospace and Texas Instruments. Loral Vought Systems, teamed with BGT of Germany, did not receive a contract. After comple tion of the demonstration/valida tion phase, die USN plans to select a single contractor to enter AIM- 9X engineering and manufacturing development. Raytheon has flight-tested suc cessfully its Boxoffice technology- demonstrator missile, which is essentially a wingless tail-control version of the AIM-9, with an BAe's ASRAAM may have technology suitable for the AIM-9X infra-red seeker with 90° off- boresight capability. For the AIM-9X demonstra tion/validation phase, Raytheon will use new focal-planc-array detectors. Raytheon has produced over 45,000 earlier-generation AIM-9 heat-seeking missiles. The AIM-9X would be used to protect USN and US Air Force fighters. Initial fielding is set for around the turn of the century. As many as 12,000 AIM-9X weapons with a value of between $1.5 bil lion and $2.5 billion would be built for the Pentagon. • US Department of Defense is using its foreign-comparative-test programme to evaluate whether technology in the British Aerospace advanced short-range air-to-air missile (ASRAAM) is applicable to the AIM-9X project. The ASRAAM is equipped with a Hughes focal-plane-array seeker. Other possible foreign AIM-9X candidates are the French Magic 2 and Israeli Python 4 missiles. 3 China/Israeli fighter link is confirmed by US officials US OFFICIALS have con firmed that Israel is helping China to develop an advanced com bat aircraft using technology from the cancelled Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Lavi fighter. The link, denied by China and Israel, was revealed exclusively by Flight International (2-8 November, 1994). The Los Angeles Times quotes unnamed US Government offi cials as confirming Israel's role in helping to develop the Chinese fighter, which is unfolding at Chengdu. Prototype flight-testing is scheduled to begin within a year and the aircraft, comparable to the US Lockheed F-16, is expected to enter service within a decade. The Chinese foreign ministry says that there is no co-operation with Israel on fighter develop ment. The Lavi was developed with US funding. 3 NEWS IN BRIEF • TURKEY CRASH A THY-Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-400 (TC-JES) crashed into a hill 4km (2nm) from Van airport, eastern Turkey, despite a warning from air traffic con trol not to attempt a third approach in a snowstorm. The crash killed 53 of the 69 passengers and seven crew. ILFC orders more from Airbus INTERNATIONAL Lease Finance (ILFC) has placed orders and options worth $1.5 bil lion for the .Airbus A319/320/321 family- Deliveries are to begin in February 1996 and continue to the year 2000. The order brings Airbus Industries' firm-order total for the year to 110 aircraft, com pared with Boeing's 111, the European consortium claims. ILFC, Airbus' single largest customer, has ordered eight 124- seatA319s, 13 150-seat A3 20s and nine 186-seat A321s, with options on three A319s, four A320s and three A32Is. The US leasing company cites growing demand for the line. ILFC has 155 Airbus aircraft on order, 40 of which have been delivered. • 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 January 1995
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